Rail (fastener)

“ Steel rails, double the weight of the original iron ones, are used. Wooden sleepers have replaced the stone blocks, and they, in their turn, will probably give way to sleepers of steel. The joints are now made by means of fish-plates, and the most vulnerable part of the rail, the end, is no longer laid on an anvil for a purpose of being smashed to pieces, but the ends of the rails are now almost always over a void, and thereby are not more affected by wear than is any other part of the rail. ”

“ The impact of the locomotive is then apt to break the rail, very much on the same principle that is taken advantage of in breaking them up for the manufacture of smaller objects. A nick is made somewhere, and the workman then strikes a blow with a hammer at a point between the nick and the place where the rail is supported. ”

“ The centre rail not only aids the train in going round curves, but also adds largely to its safety. Each vehicle is provided with four horizontal pulleys, each of about eight inches diameter, playing around vertical axes fixed upon the frame of the vehicle, and placed two and two at each of its extremities, and on each side of the centre rail. By the tightening of these pulleys, the flanges of the wheels, instead of gliding along the outer rails, press strongly against them, and thus the train is able to overcome curves unaccomplishable by any other means. ”

“ Moreover, I consider that a single rod or rail would present great advantages over any double rail system, provided any suitable means could be devised for driving a train along a single track. (Up to that time two conductors had invariably been used.) It also seemed desirable that the metal rod bearing the train should also convey the current driving it. Lines such as I contemplated would not impede cultivation nor interfere with fencing. Ground need not be purchased for their erection. ”

“ The railroad track must be true; there is not room for even the variation of a fraction of an inch in the gauge of the two rails.
In fastening the two long lines of rails, the profession of track-laying rises to almost supreme heights. The men who fasten the rail with angle iron and a single roughly-adjusted bolt in each rail-end are head-strappers and past masters in their art. After them in due season come the back-strappers, finishing that fine work of solidly bolting the rail against the vast strain of a thousand-ton train being shot over it at lightning speed. ”

“ To secure perfect safety in ascending and descending such a tremendous grade, the track is composed of three rails bolted to a trestle of heavy timbers, the centre rail being an immense wrought-iron ladder, with rounds four inches apart, into which the cogs of the locomotive drive-wheel fit, and thus drag the train up the steep as well as control it, with aid of air-brakes, in making the descent. One and a half hours are consumed in making the round trip, and the fare is six dollars, but the view from the summit is so magnificent that it fully justifies the expense. ”

“ The comparative narrow flange places the spikes at great disadvantage in point of leverage for holding down, and this weakness is soon made manifest, particularly on curves, where additional crab bolts or other devices are rendered necessary to counteract the tendency of the rail to rock and tilt over sideways. When the head of the rail cannot be kept in its proper position, the gauge becomes widened, and an irregular sinuous motion takes place in the running of the train. ”

“ In more than one instance the 45-lb. rails first laid down have been found much too light for the engines required to work the traffic, and when [Pg 242] making extensions of the system 65-lb. rails have been adopted. Indeed, when taking into consideration the weight of most of the narrow-gauge engines, generally from 24 to 28 tons in working order, and their short wheel-base, it would appear that a 65-lb. rail is the minimum which should be used both for stability and economy in maintenance. ”

“ In an ordinary railroad the functions of the iron or steel rails are twofold, first to carry the weight of the load, and second to guide the engine, carriage or truck in the right direction. Now the latter purpose—in the case of a rail-track never used for high speeds, especially in going round curves—might be served by the adoption of a very much lighter weight of rail, if only the carrying of the load could be otherwise provided for. ”

“ It must be understood that a properly laid rail will not, in any way, interfere with the ordinary uses of the street or road—that it will only be a stripe of iron paving substituted for stone—it will subserve all the purposes of wheels running on it, but will not prevent wheels from being turned off it at any point required, without needing the expensive and troublesome appliances called switches and turn-tables used on railways proper. ”

“ Whenever the right proportion is departed from, as it nearly always is, (and perhaps necessarily in some cases,) upon railroads, the wheels will rub against one rail or the other. Thus on any road where the speed on the same curve, or the radii of curvature under the same speed, differ, there must be loss of power, and dragging or pushing against the rails.
67. We are obliged to elevate the outer rail (see chapter XIII.) , for the fastest trains, and the slower trains on such roads will therefore always drag against the inner rails. ”

“ This is effected by a mechanique extremely simple in its action, moved by means of a lever, just as a pointsman moves his points at an everyday railway station. One movement of the lever depresses the centre rail, into a hollow made expressly to receive it, to the level of its confrères, and when it is necessary to elevate it again so as to place it in apposition with the centre rails at each side of the crossing, one movement of the lever raises it, and then it forms continuous centre rail just as completely as if there had not been any lever beside it to elevate or to depress it. ”

“ The return path for the current is through the traffic rails and iron girders of the elevated structure, the rails being copper-banded at the joints and joined by bands of the same material to the girders. Feeder rails extend from the power house for three fifths of the length of the line and are cross connected to the supply rails at every rail joint. The train equipment of the road consists of eighteen trains, weighing when loaded about ninety-six tons each, the motor car accounting for thirty tons of this weight and the other cars for twenty-two tons each. ”

“ Then, as the sand-box is brought into requisition, the wheels distinctly bite the rail, and, in the words of the race-track, "They're off." For a few seconds progress is very slow, indeed. Then the good work of the trusted locomotive becomes apparent, and before we are well out of the yards quite a good speed is being obtained. The fireman is busy ringing the bell, and the engineer, from time to time, adds to the warning noise by one of those indescribable toots made only by a steam engine.
Now we are outside the city limits, and the train is making excellent time. ”

“ Rails must be made more uniform in quality, and must be free from the imputation of fracture under regular wear. Notwithstanding the great improvements made in the preparation of the steel, and in the rolling, there are still far too many steel rails which break under traffic to allow rail-makers to rest satisfied with their work. Something is still wanting in the manufacture to effectually remove this disposition to fracture. The safe rail, the rail of the future, must be one that may bend and may wear, but will never break under ordinary use in the road. ”

“ It is not advisable to attempt to spring a 14 lb. rail round a sharper curve than five chains, or an 18 lb. rail beyond ten chains radius.
The result of attempting too much springing is that the rails, under the traffic and changes of temperature, work outwards at the joints and make “dog legs” more or less serious. Where the ballast is of a loose dry nature very little, if anything, can be done with springing. I have enlarged upon this subject of rail-laying because it is of prime importance to a good road, and a matter that, on narrow-gauge lines, does not receive the attention it requires. ”

“ The first improvement on the original wooden rail pegged on to the sleepers was the fastening on it of another rail, in order that this could be removed, when worn down, without interfering with the sleepers. This arrangement was known as the "double way"; and Nicholas Wood says of it: "The double rail, by increasing the height of the surface whereon the carriage travelled, allowed the inside of the road to be filled up with ashes or stone to the under side of the upper rail, and consequently above the level of the sleepers, which thus secured them from the action of the feet of the horses." ”

“ I glanced ahead. The switch light was white, the target showed main line plainly, for my headlight shone on it full and clear. What could be the matter with "Her Eyes."
As I turned to enter the cab the roar of [Pg 107] the coming express came down the wind on the frosty air and my eyes fell on the rail ahead. My God, they were full to the siding! It was a stub-rail switch, and the stand had moved the target and the light, but not the rails—the bridle-rod was broken.
I yelled like a mad man, but the brake-man had gone to the caboose for his lunch pail. I ran to the switch. It was useless. ”

“ Finally James Milholland, engineer of machinery for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, built in 1863 a pusher engine for coal trains that weighed something over 50 tons. When folk saw that engine they almost gasped, and wondered what the railroads were coming to. But the wiser men kept silent. They knew that as long as bridges and roadbeds and fine steel rails were increased in strength, the limit of size of the locomotive had not been reached. The greater grip the locomotive has upon the rail, the greater its pulling power, the greater its efficiency. ”

“ The current will then be distributed to two conductor-rails, one located between the present running rails, and the other outside them. The motors on the trains will receive the current from one rail by means of a sliding contact-shoe, and return it to the other rail in the same manner. In passing through the motor the electricity causes the armature to revolve, which motion, by means of gearing, is communicated to the carriage axle.{55}
So much for the driving-power of the trains. But what kind of trains do the public expect? ”

“ As these leave the rolling-mills they are usually slightly curved, and the process of straightening them in situ, however skilfully carried out, inevitably leaves a certain amount of waviness. When the speed is high, a condition of things soon arises whereby the irregular impulses produced by the uneven rail surfaces establishes a rocking movement of the rails and the road-bed, converting both into an elastic instead of a rigid support. ”

“ The middle rail not only enables the engine to surmount, and to draw its train up these gradients, but also affords a means of applying any required amount of extra brake power for checking the speed, or for stopping any detached vehicles during the descent, and it further acts by the use of horizontal guiding wheels on the different vehicles as a most perfect safeguard, to prevent engines, carriages or waggons from leaving the rails, in consequence either of defects in the bearing rails or of failure in any part of the rolling stock. ”

“ The introduction of electricity facilitated the construction of monorail systems of roads, which had long been the dream of railroad constructors, since this power192 could be applied with so much more flexibility. The defects of the parallel rail system are apparent both in construction of the roadbed and the operating of trains. It is almost impossible to lay and maintain the rails in exact parallels, and even more difficult to keep each rail at the proper height at all points. ”

“ A rail should be made not only strong enough to carry well the engines that have to pass over it, but it should also be heavy enough to stand the wear of several years. Narrow-gauge engines must be heavy in conformity with the loads they have to haul. The same amount of power must be exerted to haul a hundred tons on a given gradient, whether the gauge be narrow or broad. In some cases of narrow-gauge railways the original rails, which weighed only 45 lbs. ”

“ The flange rail, Fig. 265, was designed to give a broad, direct bearing on the sleepers, and thus avoid the necessity of using chairs. Rails of this section have been laid down on many of our lines at home, and are very largely used on the Continent, in the United States of America, and in our colonies generally. This section is, also, nearly always adopted for narrow-gauge railways. Having fewer parts, it makes a cheaper road than the bull-head rail, but is not considered so strong or suitable for heavy and fast traffic. ”

“ The engine and car merely rest upon and are kept in place by the two outer rails, while the power is applied to the middle one, which we have just called a rail, but is, more properly speaking, a little ladder of steel cogs, into which the corresponding teeth of the locomotive’s driving-wheel play—a firm hold being thus secured. ”